


Nightmares and Dreams

by wonkywes



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Hallucinations, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Spoilers, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 12:13:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29350257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonkywes/pseuds/wonkywes
Summary: Reiner keeps having nightmares after returning from Paradis.
Relationships: Reiner Braun/Bertolt Hoover
Comments: 8
Kudos: 47





	Nightmares and Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> This fic contains spoilers all the way up to season 4, my dude.

Reiner sprung up from bed, gasping for breath. His arm outstretched, he found himself calling Bertholdt’s name. He tried to calm his breathing down, counting seconds in, and out. Taking his blanket, he wiped off the sweat that was heavily dripping down his face. He looked to his nightstand and saw a glass of water, so he grabbed it and gulped it down. The moon shone brightly in his eyes as he set the cup back down. Sighing, he fell back on his pillows and covered his face with his arms. Another night plagued with horrible dreams of pain and demise. 

“Are you okay?” A voice from across the room asked, startling the blond. Whipping his head to the side and sitting up once more, he saw his best friend, Bertholdt, sitting on a chair facing him.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Why are you in here?” Reiner answered back, still shaken from the nightmare and then the sudden voice.

“I heard you screaming and yelling my name. I thought something bad might have happened, so I came here. I’m glad I got you that water, you look defeated,”

“Oh. I’m sorry I woke you up, and thank you for the water. This is embarrassing, did anyone else wake up?”

“Not that I’m aware of, I think they’re all still sleeping. Do you.. Do you want to talk about it? The dreams?” Bertholdt hesitantly asked. Reiner looked away, face burning in embarrassment.

“Not really… You can go back to your room if you want. Again, I’m sorry for waking you,”

“It’s okay! Truly. You matter to me more than sleep, you know? And if you’re okay with it, I’ll go back. I’m here for you though, Reiner,” His friend responded, standing up and walking to the door of the bedroom. Reiner nodded, and let him leave. The door clicked and he layed back down, face in hands. Suddenly, his thoughts and vision flooded with imagery from his nightmares, the pain coming with it. He quickly got up from bed and, as quietly as a panicked man could, tiptoe-sprinted down the hall to where Bertholdt was heading.

“Wait!” he whispered loudly when he saw the back of his tall friend about to enter his own room, “Please don’t leave me alone,” Reiner muttered softly, tears falling down his face. Bertholdt had a sad smile on his face as he walked to the blond and wrapped his arms around him.

“Okay,” he whispered to him, “It’s okay now,” Reiner cried into his shoulder, body quaking with his struggling breaths. Bertholdt led him to his room, sitting down on his bed together, “Do you want to talk about it now? It’s okay if you don’t,”

“Uhm,” Reiner took a deep breath, “I keep having dreams that you died in Paradis. That we couldn’t do anything to save you. That _I_ couldn’t do anything to save you. It hurts so bad, the scenes of you screaming out, and my inability to do _anything_. I hate that they had the power to almost take you like that, I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to be able to protect you, I’m sorry they were almost able to kill you. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” He continued crying, tears staining Bertholdt’s shirt and the sheets below them. He sobbed until all that came out were broken chokes of air. The brunet shushed his cries as he laid them both down and clutched his friend close to his chest. The only noise in the room was the sound of Reiner’s hiccups as he calmed down.

“Thank you for staying with me, Bertholdt,” He whispered to the one near him.

“No matter where, I’ll always be here for you, Reiner,” He got in response. Exhausted from crying, Reiner started to nod off into his friend’s chest. Just as sleep was about to completely overtake him, he heard Bertholdt whisper.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to live.”

“Do you know where he could be? Our meeting is just about to start and he’s not even here. Do you think something happened?” Pieck asked Porco as they walked out of Reiner’s bedroom.

“Who knows. All I know is that I’m getting pretty pissed he’s not here yet. Where the hell is the bastard!?” He responded angrily.

“I wish I knew,” Pieck sighed, readjusting her crutch, “I heard him yelling last night. I wondered if it was another nightmare, so I set a glass of water on his side table. I woke up when he screamed, then I heard him talking to himself. These thin walls keep me up too much because of him,” she yawned, walking back down the hallway with her fellow Warrior. Passing the last door, she pauses and looks at it. She tells Porco to stop, and slowly opens the door to see Reiner curled up on the bed in Bertholdt’s old room. Her eyes get sad as she goes to wake him up, but Reiner sits up before she reaches him.

“What time is it?” he grumbles, “And why are you in my room?”

“This isn’t your room, dude,” Porco grunts, leaning against the open door frame, “You’re in Bertholdt’s,” Reiner blinks a couple of times before looking around.

“Oh,” he whispers, memories of the night before slowly entering his mind, “So it is,”

“Did you have another nightmare?” Pieck asked kindly, ignoring Porco’s frustration. 

“Yeah, I did,” Reiner admitted.

“But I also had a dream.”


End file.
